1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a personal watercraft (also called a PWC) that planes along the surface of the water, and more particularly to a deck floor for the personal watercraft.
2. Description of Related Art
Personal watercraft have been gaining popularity in recent years for sports and recreational purposes. Generally, the personal watercraft is constructed to thrust forward by increasing the pressure of water drawn through a water intake provided on a bottom of a body of the watercraft by means of a propulsion pump and ejecting the water rearward from the body.
Further, a seat is formed to protrude upwardly from a deck floor at a central portion in a direction of a width of the personal watercraft and to extend in a direction of a length of the personal watercraft. A handlebar is provided in front of the seat, and the deck floor is formed on both sides of the seat.
The driver of the personal watercraft operates the personal watercraft in a posture in which he/she sits astride the seat, holds the handlebar for steering, and places the soles of feet on the deck floor acting as a space for patting the feet.
FIGS. 6a and 6b are side views showing a conventional personal watercraft together with a driver. The driver shown in FIG. 6a is a small person and has shorter legs as compared with the driver shown in FIG. 6b. The soles of the feet of the driver shown in FIG. 6a are placed on a floor face 122, and the toe tips of the soles are positioned on a boundary between the floor face 122 and a step face 124. The legs of the driver are bent at an angle of about 90 degrees. When the driver operates the personal watercraft in a relaxed posture, it is desirable that the legs should be thus bent at an angle of about 90 degrees and that an angle of the ankles should become about 90 degrees.
In a case where the driver is a large person and has long legs, the legs are bent at an acute angle if the soles of feet are placed on the floor face 122. Consequently, the driver cannot have a comfortable or desirable operating posture with the legs in such a position. Thus, a driver having long legs often operates the personal watercraft in a posture in which the soles of the feet are placed on the step face 124 with the heels positioned on the boundary between the floor face 122 and the step face 124 as shown in FIG. 6b.
In a case where the driver is a mid-sized person and tries to take such a relaxed posture as obtained by both tall and short drivers, the soles of the feet overlap the boundary between the floor face 122 and the step face 124. A mid-sized person is a person who has intermediate build between that of a large person and that of a small person. The boundary is a portion where the floor face 122 and the step face 124 continue through a V-shaped interior angle. Thus, the portion where the feet of a mid-sized person would comfortably fit has a V-shape. Therefore, the soles of the feet are bent back so that the driver is uncomfortable and becomes fatigued.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei 3-4637 discloses the related art of a deck floor.